Churchill War Rooms

The Churchill War Rooms museum holds the original Cabinet War Rooms, the underground bunker that sheltered Winston Churchill and his government during the Blitz during World War II. From here, Churchill commanded his whole army, which is a truly amazing feat. The Churchill War Rooms site is an amazing glimpse into the past. Because everything has been so well preserved, you are really able to feel what Churchill and his government might have felt while being down in the bunkers. The cold, eerie feeling helps visitors remember that this was a site during one of the most important wars in world history. Rooms that are on display at the museum include the Transatlantic Telephone Room where top-secret conversations were made between Churchill and Roosevelt, the Map Room, and even Churchill's office-bedroom.

Power 
The Churchill War Rooms show how powerful Britain and, more specifically, their government really is. From these underground bunkers Winston Churchill managed to man a whole army and keep him and his government safe from the Blitz bombings. Churchill did not flee London even though it had been bombed for 57 nights straight at one point. He stood his ground and showed the world that Britain was powerful and should not be looked at as weak. I believe that Churchill's efforts and personality were really influential on all of Britain and made the people feel more powerful as well.

Symbolism
Propaganda was a huge part of World War II. Posters flooded the streets in order to encourage people to join the army and even to simply gain moral support. One slogan in particular that has stuck with Britain, and the world, is "Keep Calm and Carry On." This was a motivational slogan produced by the British government to help raise the spirits of the public after there had been numerous bombings in major cities in Britain. This slogan is still used today and even has a wide variety of alterations. This saying is a huge symbol of British identity and because it is so widely recognized, shows how influential Britain is on the world.

Reflection
I really enjoyed going to the Churchill War Rooms! The eerie, cold feeling inside really added to the whole experience. I truly felt that I was in a time capsule, something which most museums don't really make me feel. It was a harsh realization of how intense World War II was and how hard Churchill worked to protect Britain. Visiting this site gave me a huge amount of respect for Winston Churchill and I actually think that reading his biography would be really interesting.